At the 11th congress, the Young Guard of United Russia will discuss working with youth

The Young Guard of United Russia (MGER) will hold its 11th congress on Tuesday. No major organizational changes are expected, but the activities of the United Russia youth team are planned to be expanded. Thus, a special project will be launched to attract SVO participants to the patriotic education of youth, and in general, MGER will focus on working with students, college students and high school students. The organization does not hide the fact that they want to become a “new Komsomol”, and even intend to adopt relevant experience from their Chinese colleagues. Also, a public council will appear in MGER, where the Young Guards want to attract politicians and public opinion leaders. The congress will not be complete without expressing support for Vladimir Putin – with the help of a banner and T-shirts with his image.

The previous MGER congress was held in 2022 shortly before the start of the special military operation (SVO). Before him, the issue of “restarting” the movement, whose activities at that time were rather depoliticized, was actively discussed. The changes were to be ensured by the new chairman of MGER, Anton Demidov. At the 10th Congress, he said that the organization should intensify its work “on the street” (Kommersant’s sources, who were well acquainted with his activities, characterized Mr. Demidov as a specialist in street actions). In United Russia, according to Kommersant’s interlocutors, they expected that MGER would begin to bring it “real electoral points.” But the beginning of the Northern Military District changed plans somewhat, and MGER focused its efforts on humanitarian assistance to new regions, becoming one of the main public actors in this area. According to Kommersant’s sources, the party is generally happy with this state of affairs and believes that Mr. Demidov looks natural in the role of head of MGER.

At the congress on February 20, Anton Demidov will retain the position of chairman, says a Kommersant source close to the management of MGER. A new “restart,” he said, should not be expected either. Organizational changes will affect the coordination council of MGER, which should be updated by more than half: it will include the leaders of the main youth organizations of the DPR and LPR “Young Republic” and “Peace in Lugansk” Sergei Dobrovolsky and Mikhail Golubovich. Both are deputies of regional parliaments and have previously joined the General Council of United Russia. “The coordination council will indeed include representatives of new regions, as well as veterans of the Northern Military District,” Artem Ermakov, head of the MGER press service, commented on this information to Kommersant.

Also, as a source told Kommersant, MGER will launch a new project to attract SVO participants to the patriotic education of youth. “There are many organizations that help those returning from the front. We want to help them with socialization. We will involve them in social work in schools, universities, with difficult teenagers,” Anton Demidov confirms these plans. In addition, MGER is preparing projects dedicated to bone marrow donation, learning to operate drones, promoting a healthy lifestyle and working with students from social institutions.

According to the source, MGER will also create a public council, which will be headed by the deputy head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, Alena Arshinova, also a native of MGER. She became the party’s new coordinator for youth policy, taking over this functionality from Igor Kastyukevich, who recently left the State Duma to become a senator from the Kherson region. The new council will include politicians, opinion leaders and cultural figures. In addition, MGER intends to intensify its work with students, high school students and college students. This direction will be one of the key ones, says the source: according to him, the organization actually wants to become a “new Komsomol” and is also preparing to go “into the backyards.”

“To this I can only say that in early March the Young Guards will hold a meeting with the head of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of China, Mrs. Wang Yi, at which we will discuss the steps of joint work,” Artem Ermakov told Kommersant.

Finally, the congress will not be complete without expressions of support for Vladimir Putin, who is facing presidential elections in mid-March. A large banner with his image will be installed in the convention hall, and T-shirts will be distributed to delegates. “Nothing prevents us from supporting him as the current president,” Mr. Demidov emphasized.

Andrey Vinokurov